The Gift
by BloodRaevynn
Summary: After Meteor, Sephiroth summons Cloud to Mideel to give him something that is both a gift and a responsibility. Yaoi.
1. Prologue

A/N (which is always longer than the prologue): Having recently finished the game (in the half-assed way that I just blew through it as fast as I could, most likely missing a ton of important stuff, though it still ended up being turned back to the video store about a week late – thank god Video Library pro-rates. Some day I'll actually buy the game and play it properly), I spontaneously got about four fic ideas – which is entirely typical for my fic-muse, Shonia, who likes to obsess about one fandom for a while before focusing on something else. This is actually the second fic I wrote; the first, a short introspective thingy, will likely not be published because I decided to take many ideas from it and fit them into other stories – like this one – with the Sephiroth/Cloud pairing (as opposed to Sephiroth/Zach), where they work a lot better.  
  
Now, while we're on the subject of pairings, the only pairing for this that I have planned is Sephiroth/Cloud - Cloud/Sephiroth and mainly it's in flashbacks; other pairings are possible.  
  
Another thing I have no idea about is the plot. All I have is a situation at the moment, but I figure I'll come up with a plot around chapter 6, and then have to go back and revise everything I've written up 'til then (I always do if the story is going to be more than 6 chapters, which this one almost certainly will be). So, yeah, I'm basically flying by the seat of my pants and hoping for the best.  
  
Lemee see...is there anything else I can say about this without giving things away...? Nope; though I'd like to take this opportunity to comment that if Square doesn't let me watch Advent Children in Japanese a few people are going to become...intimately...acquainted with my ankle boots – if the narrator for the English trailer is any indication I want absolutely nothing to do with the dub (hell, if FFX was any indication... ::strangles Tidus and Seymour's VAs::).  
  
Yeah, okay, I'm done ranting (for now).  
  
Final note:

**-:-** Text **-:-** = Telepathic speech

_Block of text_ = Flashbacks – there will be a lot of these in the course of the fic.  
  
Now, on with the fic!  
  
The Gift  
Prologue  
  
**-:-** Cloud... **-:-**   
Cloud's eyes snapped open as the all-too-familiar voice rang inside his head. He forced his frozen lungs to draw a breath, and then slowly sat up in bed, gripping the sheets tightly in an attempt to stop himself from shaking.  
Four deep breaths later, the blonde man was ready to dismiss the voice as nothing more than the remnant of a dream, but then it came again.  
**-:-** Cloud. **-:-**  
Unmistakable this time.  
"Sephiroth..." Cloud felt like someone had poured ice water down his back. "It _can't_ be!" he whispered urgently.  
**-:- **Cloud. Come. **-:-**   
In response to the command, Cloud drew into a ball; arms wrapped around legs, fingernails digging into shins deeply enough to draw blood. He fully expected his body to start acting of it's own volition; that he'd suddenly get up from the bed and go...wherever it was that Sephiroth wanted him to go.  
Nothing happened.  
It was a command, yes, but Cloud was not compelled against his will to obey it.  
**-:-** To Mideel. **-:-**  
Cloud clenched his eyes shut, trying not to hear the voice.  
**-:-** Come! **-:-**  
"No."  
**-:- **Come, Cloud! You must! **-:-**  
"No! I **won't**!"  
A feeling much like a sigh rippled through Cloud's being.  
**-:-** There isn't much time, Cloud. **-:-** The voice was softer, almost gentle. **-:-** You must come to Mideel. **-:-**


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay, first chappy; and just so you know I finally came up with an actual plot to go with this (got the idea when I started writing the third chapter), so that should lessen the impact of the chapter 6 revision; the plotline still needs some refinement though, which is fine because I want to do more situation building first. In any case, you don't know what I'm referring to there...and won't until much later!

Mwahahahaha!!! Ha...ha... ...um...yeah... I'm done now...  
  
The Gift  
Chapter 1  
  
Cloud gazed apprehensively at the mostly rebuilt town of Mideel. It had been roughly nine months since he'd been washed up here, three months since Sephiroth's death by Cloud's hand. The town was now built around the edges of the softly glowing mako lake, debris, primarily wood from the obliterated buildings, still floated lazily in the energy-rich water.  
"I'm here, Sephiroth," Cloud murmured. "Now what?"  
Two days ago, and with little explaination for his departure, Cloud had left Tifa's bar on the outskirts of Midgar, where he had been living for the last two months. He had decided that even if he could resist the voice in his head, he couldn't just ignore it. He had to investigate. He had to know if it was really Sephiroth speaking to him.  
Exhausted in every way imaginable, Cloud continued into the town and took a room at the inn, falling asleep almost the moment his head touched the pillow.  
  
_He was floating, surrounded by the glow of the Lifestream.  
He couldn't feel his fingers or toes or even his own flesh, yet he could feel the arms around his waist, the beating of the heart within the chest pressed against his back, the lips moving against the nape of his neck...  
**-:-** You won't last much longer here, Cloud... **-:-**_  
  
Cloud stared at pale green light painted on the ceiling for several minutes before realizing that he was awake. Slowly he got out of bed and walked to the window, looking down at the mako lake shining so brightly that the full moon could not make a reflection in it.  
Cloud's mako-blue eyes widened as he caught sight of a tall figure standing in the center of the lake, not making so much as a ripple on it's surface; in fact he seemed to be either standing on the water or hovering above it. Slowly the figure turned and Cloud could feel the glowing jade eyes burning into him, even though the distance was too great for him to see them.  
**-:-** Come. It is time. **-:-  
** Cloud nodded slightly and left the room; he walked down the hall to the front door of the inn, drawing a strange look and quiet question from the young woman who was sitting half-asleep at the front desk. He ignored her and stepped out into the night.  
Cloud came to a stop at the lake's edge and couldn't bring himself to be the least bit surprised when a large piece of driftwood - it appeared to once have been part of someone's porch - floated straight over to him and stopped at the shore, bobbing quietly in the small waves. Cloud hesitated only a moment before stepping onto it and being carried slowly out onto the lake.  
As the makeshift boat drifted, Cloud couldn't help but wonder if he actually had been compelled to come here and simply didn't know it - certainly he hadn't been aware of it when he was being manipulated by Sephiroth before - but as he neared the figure in the lake he decided that it was far to late for that to make a difference either way.  
Looking at the figure before him, Cloud realized that it was not a person at all, at least...not in the literal, physical sense. Beneath the image of pale flesh, dark cloth, and silver hair, Cloud could see the movement of the Lifestream; swirls of energy manifesting Sephiroth's form. Strangely, Cloud felt a pang in his chest that resembled sorrow.  
**-:- **Cloud. **-:-** Sephiroth's mouth did not move.  
"Why have you called me? What do you want?"  
**-:-** To give you something. A parting gift, if you will, but also a great responsibility. **-:-**  
"I don't want anything from you." There was no spite in his tone, though plenty of bitterness.  
**-:-** It is much too late for that. This is already yours. **-:-** Sephiroth reached into the mako lake and pulled out what looked like a Huge Meteria, it was almost Summon-red in color, but darker, a color closer to that of blood.  
"What is it?"  
**-:-** You don't remember. **-:-** It wasn't quite a question. Sephiroth held the object out, and Cloud hesitated for quite a while before accepting it. **-:-** It was...to fill a void. I do not know if it would have worked, but I hope it brings you some measure of... **-:-** and the last "word" from Sephiroth was not so much a word as a concept - peace, comfort, contentment, purpose, fulfillment, happiness, and many other emotions both rolled into one and in place of one another – all of these feelings together, or, if not, then at least one of them, was what Cloud supposed that inclusive and the same time exclusive feeling meant.  
"Why are you giving this to me?" Cloud asked.  
**-:-** It is already yours. **-:-** Sephiroth repeated.  
The collection of Lifestream energy that made up Sephiroth's hand touched the crystal, and suddenly it was crystal no longer, but fluid that poured through Cloud's hands like blood but left no stain, leaving him holding something small and warm and alive...and infinitely precious.  
Cloud's eyes widened, his mouth dropping open slightly, and he looked up at Sephiroth in disbelief - for what Cloud held was a newborn child with a shock of silver hair, and brilliant mako-blue eyes. Sephiroth's "hand" touched the infant's forehead for a moment, and then drifted from there up to the side of Cloud's face; the sensation was hard to describe, less substantial than the night breeze blowing across the lake, but at the same time more acute. The glowing jade eyes burned into Cloud's lapis ones, and then Sephiroth's lips closed on Cloud's.  
It was like kissing light, and taking it in cell by cell.  
**-:-** Forgive me... **-:-** Sephiroth's voice echoed in every atom of Cloud's being. **-:-** ...and... thank you... **-:-**  
Cloud opened his eyes and silently watched Sephiroth disperse into the Lifestream for the second time.  
  
_**-:-** Think of it, Cloud. A descendent of Jenova, conceived within the Lifestream. Is it even within your ability to **imagine** how powerful our son will be? **-:-**  
_  
Cloud's eyes widened in combined awe and terror as the fragment of memory released him, then a fierce desire to protect the infant took over and he cradled his son against his chest.  
  
A/N: Yeah, this is kinda short – I almost think of it as a second prologue myself... So there's the situation; what do you think?  
  
Reviews are Muse fodder! Feed the Muse!


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Chapter 3 will be posted in a few days; there will be a note explaining the current situation with this fic.

* * *

**The Gift**

Chapter 2

* * *

Tifa jumped to her feet immediately when she heard the sound of a key in the lock. She was already halfway to the back door when it opened to reveal Cloud.

"Where have you _been_, Cloud? I've been worried!" She stopped just short of him, then looked at the ground and scuffed the toe of one boot against the floor. "I know, I know," she continued, as Cloud opened his mouth. "You can take care of yourself. I don't own you, and I have no right to expect you to stay here with me every minute. Still...you could have at least told me..." She trailed off when she realized that she was speaking to empty space and covered her face with one hand in embarrassment. She turned and saw that Cloud had walked to the kitchen table and set down the bundle that she only now realized he had been carrying.

"Tifa?" Cloud asked, in a slightly nervous tone of voice. "Do you know how to take care of a baby?"

Tifa blinked rapidly as her brain failed to process the question on the first attempt, and then failed to process the reason for the question on the second. It was as her brain started to take a third crack at it that Cloud pulled back the cloth wrapping the bundle and it all clicked.

"Ehhhhhhhh!?" was all Tifa could manage at that point, then she shook her head to clear it. "Cloud! Where in the world did you get a _baby_!? Whose is it!?"

Cloud was silent for a long time and Tifa quickly became worried.

"Cloud? Is something wrong?"

"Sephiroth," Cloud said softly. Tifa's breath caught in her throat and she wondered if it were possible for her eyes to get any wider. "Sephiroth contacted me telepathically five nights ago."

"But, isn't Sephiroth dead?"

"Yes," Cloud replied. "Which, I suppose, is why he told me to go to Mideel. I saw him, or rather his ghost, there three nights ago in the mako lake and he gave me the child."

"It's his?" Tifa asked softly.

Cloud was silent as he picked up the child and held him against his chest so that the infant's head rested over Cloud's heart. Cloud finally nodded in response to Tifa's question, then he turned and met Tifa's eyes evenly. "And mine."

Tifa was a bit proud of herself for managing to keep her jaw from dropping open. Even so, she couldn't quite keep her voice steady as well.

"How...how is that possible?"

"I don't know...my memories of it are fragmentary at best, but it happened when I was in the Lifestream with him. Sephiroth wasn't human; who knows just what he was capable of?"

Tifa suddenly giggled.

"What?" Cloud asked, with an almost cross tone of voice.

"I was just wondering...which one of you was the mother?"

"I certainly didn't carry the child; Sephiroth had him in some kind of artificial, Materia womb. Also, look at this." Cloud shifted the child so that she could see him. Tifa came over and got her first good look at Cloud's son.

"Gaia! He's beautiful, Cloud," She whispered.

Cloud pulled down the baby's diaper slightly so that Tifa could see his stomach.

"No belly button," Cloud pointed out. Tifa shrugged in response.

"Well, his birth has to have been different than what we're used to," she reasoned. "So we shouldn't really be surprised."

"I don't know what to do, Tifa," Cloud said, holding the child close again. His eyes were wide and vulnerable. "I have to protect him, and I have to make sure he grows up to be a good person."

"Of course," Tifa said. "That's every parent's job."

"I know that!" Cloud almost shouted in desperation. The baby cried out in objection to his father's emotional turmoil. "I know that..." He repeated more softly, rubbing the child's back to calm him again.

"What's wrong, Cloud?"

"Haven't you realized yet, Tifa?" Cloud asked, as he dropped into one of the chairs wearily, suddenly looking far older than his years. "This child is mine and Sephiroth's; he's Jenova's descendant, and was conceived in the Lifestream." Tifa paled as it started to sink in. "You know how powerful Sephiroth was...this child will almost certainly be even stronger."

Tifa bowed her head as she thought about that.

"What should I do?" Cloud asked, in a near whisper.

"Three things above all else," Tifa said, after a few minutes of silence. "First and most importantly, you must love him, second, you must protect him, and third, you must not fear him. Children are very sensitive, and since it seems that Sephiroth had some kind of psychic powers, his child probably will as well."

Tifa took the sponge out of the sink, wet it, and started wiping down the counters.

"Also," Tifa said. "You should talk to Barret, since he knows about raising a child by himself; Elmyra too, if you can bring yourself to do so." She looked at the child cradled in Cloud's arms. "Does he have a name?"

Cloud shook his head. "I haven't been able to think of one."

"You'll have to fix that soon."

"I thought of calling him Zach, but it didn't seem right," Cloud replied. "I don't want to give him someone else's name."

"That's understandable." Tifa studied the tired slump of Cloud's body for a moment. "It'll keep 'til tomorrow," she said finally, "you're exhausted; go to bed. I'm going to be up a while longer, so I'll look after him for now; I imagine you haven't had much sleep the last three days. Just let me find something..." She walked off to the large closet set into the wall by the staircase and dug into it, eventually emerging with a very large basket and a blanket. "Here we go." She layered the blanket in the basket so that it was thick enough that she was sure it would be comfortable for the baby then she took him from his father and placed him into it. "We can get a proper crib for him tomorrow."

Tifa turned to Cloud with a smile. "Go on to bed now," she said. "He'll be quite alright with me for now. I'll take care of him tonight so that you can sleep."

Cloud stood and walked to Tifa, embracing her. "Thank you." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You always know how to help me."

"That's what friends are for," she said softly. In his exhaustion, Cloud didn't notice the undertone of sadness in her voice.

Tifa had long since realized that it wouldn't do her any good to read more than friendship from Cloud's affection for her - it was better to expect only friendship or a familial relationship and be pleasantly surprised than to hope for love and be bitterly disappointed if it never emerged.

"Sephiroth..." Cloud whispered, shutting his bedroom door behind himself. He half expected Sephiroth's apparition to materialize before him, or at least to hear his voice, but nothing happened.

Cloud pressed his fingers to his lips, remembering the kiss, though the memory of the sensation had faded to a dim echo. That had not been the first time Sephiroth had kissed him, Cloud had realized the day after his son's "birth;" nor, he believed, had being kissed by Sephiroth been a rare thing...at one time. It wasn't that Cloud remembered any other instances, it was just something he understood; some fact of his life that had now resurfaced...at least, that's what he thought.

He knew this couldn't be from Zach – Zach had loved Aeris and had only been with women before her – but Cloud had not yet sifted through the layers of his and Zach's memories to find out exactly who he had been before Zach's death. Yes, he now knew the truth about Nibelheim and the events that surrounded it; but, truthfully, during the Meteor Crisis he'd had no real desire to find out the rest. Better to hold on to Zach's love for Aeris and the grief over her death by Sephiroth's hand.

It kept things simple.

Now he felt even more strongly that the decision had probably been for the best; especially if what he was beginning to suspect was, in fact, true.

With Sephiroth dead though, and the crisis averted - Cloud thought as sleep took him - the time had come to learn the truth.

While Cloud still slept the next morning, Tifa called their friends and asked them to come. She told them that it was urgent and had to do with Cloud, but that no one was hurt; more than that she did not say, since she didn't want to have to answer the same set of questions half a dozen times. She kept the bar closed and drew the curtains for privacy, as most of her customers came primarily because they knew that she had been among those who had saved planet; it was therefore almost certain that a large group would gather outside, trying their best to see the goings-on.

Reeve, being the closest, was the first to arrive. By this time Cloud was awake but was upstairs with the baby; he was aware that the others were coming and had decided to wait until they all arrived before coming down.

The others arrived together on the Highwind about an hour later. By that time, Reeve's curiosity was past its peak after attempting, unsuccessfully, to "20 Question" some answers out of Tifa.

"So what the fuck is going on!?" Cid asked, as he sat down at the bar two seats down from Reeve. Yuffie came and perched on the stool next to him, looking around as if trying to spot a notice posted on one of the walls. Barret took a seat on the other side of Reeve, while Nanaki sat on the floor at the end of the bar and Vincent propped himself against the wall by the door.

"It would probably be best if Cloud explains for himself," Tifa replied to Cid's question. She started toward the back room, with the intention of getting Cloud, but before she even took two steps to the door, he entered with his son in his arms.

"Whoa, Cloud!" Yuffie exclaimed, when she saw Cloud and the baby. "Didja knock someone up or somethin'!? Who gave you the baby!?"

"Sephiroth." Cloud replied.

There was a loud thud as the teenage ninja fell off her stool.

"Say _**what**_!?" Cid exclaimed.

"Ya gotta be kidding me!" Barret added.

"Don't tell me you knocked up _**Sephiroth**_!!" Yuffie exclaimed; which earned her strange looks from everyone except Tifa and Cloud. "_What!?_" She glared at the others defensively.

"Something like that," Cloud replied.

There was dead silence.

"I don't know if you realize this," Cloud said. "But I spent more than a week in the Lifestream with Sephiroth before I surfaced in Mideel. My memories aren't clear, but I remember enough to know that this child is Sephiroth's and mine; I don't know how, and I don't really know why.

"Sephiroth called me back to Mideel a few days ago. He **is** dead, so don't worry; he dispersed back into the Lifestream after giving me our son."

Meanwhile, Yuffie had walked over to Cloud and was peering at the baby.

"Kawaii!!" She squealed. "What'cha gonna call him?"

"I haven't decided." Cloud replied.

"Now wait just a fucking minute!" Cid interrupted. "What if this kid ends up like his father!?"

"Which father are you talking about?" Tifa asked, coolly.

"Damn it! You _know_ what I mean!!"

"Cid does have a point," Reeve said. "That child **does** have Jenova's DNA in him."

"Do you really think I haven't thought about that?" Cloud asked quietly. "I thought of little else on the way back from Mideel. But what would you have me do? He is my son."

"Yeah!" Yuffie chimed in, "and he needs a name! Sooooo, what should we call him? Can I hold him?"

"No way!" Barret objected. "You'd probably steal him!"

"I'd give him back!" Yuffie replied. She ruffled the baby's silver hair. "…eventually."

"You can hold him," Cloud said. "He's only five days old though, so be careful to support his neck."

"Well, _duh_!" Yuffie objected, with a near-pout. "I've held babies before!" She accepted the precious bundle from Cloud carefully. "Heya, kiddo!" Yuffie said, with a cheerful grin. "Say 'hi' to Yuffie-nee - I'm the one that's gonna spoil ya rotten and teach ya all sorts of_ interestin' _habits." Yuffie looked up at the rest of the group. "So, guys! Name! Kid's gotta have a name!" The majority of people in the room gave shrugs. "Fine, how 'bout Kumo?"

"Doesn't that just mean 'Cloud' in Wutaian?" Nanaki asked.

"Heh-heh," Yuffie chuckled evilly.

"Hey, Cloud!" Reeve said. "You'd better find a decent name for the kid, before Yuffie takes to calling him something that'll traumatize him later in life."

"Lucien." All heads turned toward Vincent, who hadn't said a word up to that point. "It means 'light'."

"That's nice," Tifa said with a smile. "I think it suits him. What do you think, Cloud?"

"Yes," Cloud agreed, "I like it too."

The newly dubbed Lucien started to cry.

"See! He prefers 'Kumo'!" Yuffie crowed.

"He needs his diaper changed," Cloud said. Yuffie's face screwed up into an expression of disgust.

"_**I**_ ain't doin' it!"

"Give him to me," Tifa said. "Besides, I think his innocent mind has been corrupted enough for one day." Yuffie let Tifa take him, then looked over her outfit to make sure it was still clean.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N:

Alright, I'm going to expain what's going on with this fic right now:

Less than a year after I hit a wall with this fic (which was in November of 2004, apparently), my writing skill abruptly reached a whole new level – "A Matter of Control" (FFVII), "Moonlight" (CCS), and "Tryst" (Devil & Devil) are the three currently posted fics that I think most exemplify this new level; as much as I liked this story when I was working on it, and in some respects still do, "The Gift" falls far short of them.

Because of the incongruity, both in style and skill, between the writing done on "The Gift" to date and my current level of writing ability, a marked difference in my literary "taste," and the fact that I flatly refuse to either attempt to write below my level or to continue the story from where I left off in a drastically different style (which probably would result in my tripping all over what I'd written previously and ultimately crippling the story anyway), in order for "The Gift" to continue, a complete ground-up rewrite will be necessary. As an additional complication, I am now in the process of getting my bachelor's degree – while I am currently on summer break until September, from the beginning of September to the end of April my free-time is pretty much nonexistent; the degree program I'm in demands all my time and energy. Also, "A Matter of Control" takes priority over this fic, as do several of the other fics I'm working on, in this and other fandoms, that haven't yet been posted; those are the fics that will be getting my attention this summer.

To summerize: don't expect further updates any time soon (probably not until three years from now, after I get my degree), and when updates do begin again, the story will almost certainly be starting over from the beginning.

**Current Status: Hiatus/Backburner - ****pending rewrite, the completion of other fics of higher-priority, and the existance of free time.**

* * *

The Gift

Chapter 03

* * *

The upper level of Midgar was practically gone; it had been literally shredded by the combined forces of Meteor, Holy, and the Lifestream. The interesting thing was that relatively little of it had actually fallen on the slums below, instead it was flung into the air and there had been reports of shrapnel falling as far away as Junon; there was speculation among the former AVALANCHE members that Aeris had had a hand in that.

Grass was growing there now, green blades sprouting up seemingly in every bit of the once-barren soil that was touched by the long-absent sunlight. In many places the grass made a thick carpet that just begged to have bare feet run across it and families picnic on it. For the first time, Cloud was among those who flocked to the large patch that grew near Tifa's. He was lying on his back on a hill, gazing up at the late afternoon sky, Lucien lying asleep on his father's chest dressed in a blue, chocobo-patterned sleeper that Tifa had bought along with other necessities that morning, Cloud's right hand rested lightly on his son's back, his left was tucked behind his head; a half-empty bottle of formula lay in the grass to Cloud's left, near a baby carrier.

_**-:-**__ It was…to fill a void… __**-:-**_

The words Sephiroth had spoken sparked something within Cloud; some half-formed memory that he couldn't quite reach. Cloud frowned, studying the expanse of blue above him, as he tried to catch the edge of the elusive memory.

"Oh, what a darling!"

Cloud looked over at the source of the voice and saw a young woman with blonde pixy-cut hair and brown eyes wearing a simple blue cotton dress; the bulge of her stomach showed her pregnancy.

"A boy or a girl?" The woman sat down beside him.

"Boy. His name's Lucien." Cloud ran his fingers lightly through his son's hair.

"I'm hoping for a girl," the woman said. "My name's Katerina by the way."

"Cloud."

"Cloud?" Cloud cringed inwardly at the shocked tone of her voice. "As in Cloud Strife?"

"Unfortunately," he sighed.

The sudden fame that AVALANCHE in general, and Cloud in particular, received after Meteor was very uncomfortable for the warrior. Cloud had been more or less hiding in the apartments above Tifa's bar since then; he rarely left, never during the day, and he wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if no one knew he lived there. The snatches of conversation about him that he'd heard from Tifa's patrons had been… unsettling – it was strikingly similar to the things that used to be said about Sephiroth. Tifa handled her new fame gracefully, though she would usually spend half of her working hours dragging the exaggerated stories her customers told back down to more realistic proportions.

"So where's his mother?" Katerina asked.

"Dead," Cloud replied flatly. Suddenly the woman's presence was no longer so pleasant.

"Oh…I'm so sorry."

At this point Lucien woke up and started to cry. Cloud shifted his son carefully and sat up – Lucien was wet; Cloud just knew this, he wasn't sure how. In any case, he was glad for an excuse to leave.

* * *

"How was it?" Tifa asked cheerfully from the sink where she was washing dishes, as Cloud entered from the back door. Lucien had quieted to whimpers on the walk back.

"It reminded me why I don't go out," Cloud replied.

"Ouch," Tifa commented in sympathy. "What happened?"

"I wish I could trade names with Cid. He doesn't mind the attention too much, won't hesitate to be rude when he _does_ mind, and he has a common name."

"Ah, I see." Tifa wiped the suds and water from her hands on the towel hanging by the sink and grabbed two stacks of damp glasses. "Would you mind finishing these dishes? It's a full house today."

"I'll do them after I change him."

"Thanks."

"No problem," Cloud replied, "I have to earn my keep after all."

'You've already done that, a hundred times over,' Tifa thought, as she headed back out to the front room.

* * *

"Barrett called," Tifa said, shutting off lighting in the bar. "Cid's going to drop them off tomorrow morning." Before everyone had left yesterday – well, more like the day before yesterday, since it was 2AM now – Barrett had offered to come stay for a while to give Cloud a little guidance until he got the hang of things; naturally he was also bringing Marlene.

"The guest room's ready for them," Cloud replied.

Tifa yawned and started toward the kitchen.

"Tifa," Cloud asked, as Tifa walked past him.

"Hmm?" Tifa stopped at the kitchen door and looked back at him, where he leaned against the bar.

"How do you handle it? Everyone knowing who you are; the part you played in saving them?"

"Their glorified hero worship, you mean?" Tifa cocked her head to one side.

"That, and the way they think they have the right to know everything about you."

Tifa smiled slightly. "I show them otherwise. I'm here, I talk to them; I let them see that I'm just another person. If they ask me to tell them about the things I did then I tell them, if they ask something inappropriate then I tell them it's none of their business, if they get too pushy I give them a 'practical demonstration' of my strength. I let them see who I really am, then the mystery is gone and they move on with their lives; a few of them stay around, some of them are quite good company.

"I'm not the only one telling stories either – this place offers catharsis to the people who survived the events of this last year; they can talk with me and with each other about what happened. I know that you resent Reeve for releasing information about what happened, and about Aeris, but to those who also lost people they loved to Shin-Ra, to the WEAPONs, or to Meteor, we give them courage to go on.

"Also… I don't want to cut myself off from people just because everyone is grateful that I helped to save their lives. I can't live if I'm cut off from the world. Neither can you.

"I know how hard this is for you, Cloud, but you can't go on this way forever. You need to start living your life and taking part in the world around you, if not for yourself then for your son."

"I know…" Cloud sighed. "You're right, I know that; but it just isn't as easy as you make it sound…"

"Believe me, Cloud," Tifa laughed. "I know _that_ very well; why do you think I haven't pressured you?"

Cloud nodded and went into the kitchen, Tifa following him at a slightly slower pace. As Cloud neared the staircase he heard Tifa's footsteps halt and glanced back as he heard the nervous scuff of the toe of her boot against the ground.

"Is something wrong?" Cloud asked.

Tifa opened and shut her mouth a couple times before saying, "I don't know how to ask this but…When you were in the Lifestream with Sephiroth…did you…I mean…did he…" she sighed. "'What happened?' I guess is what I'm asking." After they were both quiet for a moment, she added; "you don't have to answer."

"I don't know what happened," Cloud replied. "I don't remember very much."

"Oh."

"But if…if what you're asking about _did_ happen… I don't think it would have been…unwelcome." Tifa looked away, blushing slightly. Cloud was silent for a moment more, then: "I don't know, there are still a lot of things I don't remember, but I think it might be possible that…Sephiroth and I were once lovers."

Tifa looked up, shock written across her face, as Cloud ascended the staircase.

A/N: Well, here's the thing about writing – in my experience anyway. Characters do not always do what you want them to, whether you're working with someone else's characters or your own. For example, I planned for Cloud and Katerina to have a pleasant conversation, maybe have her around as a minor character, but the moment she recognized Cloud's name Cloud went all hypersensitive and obstinate and that was the end of _that_ idea (so if you thought Cloud's behavior was weird, don't blame me!).


End file.
